Intros, new member

[phanowel]

Greetings. I've joined as I'm purchasing a '78 xs400 project to work on with my 13yo son. We shall see how things go, and I suspect I'll be looking to folks here for help.

So, hello from Tallahassee.

 

[drewpy]

welcome to the forum Phan.

simple bikes to work on and fun to boot

 

[PT_247]

heya

 

[xschris]

Welcome! Post some pics so we can see what you got

 

[Pork Chop]

Greetings. I've joined as I'm purchasing a '78 xs400 project to work on with my 13yo son. We shall see how things go, and I suspect I'll be looking to folks here for help.

So, hello from Tallahassee.

Welcome mate.

A father & son xs400 project sounds like a great idea. I just hope that there will still be internal combustion bikes when my son is a teenager.

Posted via Mobile

 

[OleDoc]

welcome aboard.

 

[phanowel]

Thanks, guys. Here is the only picture I have, but I should be picking it up on Saturday. As you can see, this really will be a substantial project:

My intentions are to go with a homemade hardtail, sporty tank (or something similar), single carb, etc. Maybe I'll start a thread on it so my son Sam can document our steps.

 

[xschris]

I hope you have more of the bike than that. Looks to be a 79f the first 3 letters of the vin should be 2L0 made in mid 78. Good luck I think it is going to be a lot of work, but it will be worth it.

 

[Reaper]

All you need is the title and frame to have a bike....lol. That's a nice blank canvas for you and your son to have fin with.

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Welcome! Be sure to take lots of pictures: I would've been lost without the ones I took. Here's hoping for no nasty surprises!

 

[OleDoc]

as i have said before, now the fun begins...

 

[phanowel]

Well, now that it is sitting in my basement... (crappy cell phone pic this morning):

I'll start a build thread if I determine that this thing is worth it.

I pulled one spark plug; the other was siezed. I sprayed plenty of PB blaster on it and decided to let it soak for a day or so before I try it again. No kick start lever, so I haven't tried to turn it over yet.

 

[xschris]

Have you drained the oil out of it yet? If water has been able to get in there then

 

[phanowel]

Have you drained the oil out of it yet? If water has been able to get in there then

Nope, not yet. I did pull the oil cap/dipstick and took a look in there with a flashlight. I didn't see anything goofy (rust, debris, pooled water), nor did I see a pool of oil. What little I did see, though, seemed to be coated in oil.

Oh, and obviously the cover plate is missing at the shifter. Anything important under there? The shifter bar sticks out, and I found the lever in the bag-o-parts and put it on. It seems to shift between gears (based on my rotating the sprocket...).

 

[scoutnaround]

the motor from my parts bike was seized but i put plenty of pb in the spark plug holes and let it sit it kind of freed itself couple of kicks. you really need the kick start lever. pm me and i have an extra i can let you have fairly cheap.